The six Heisman finalists have been announced: Quarterbacks Jordan Lynch of Northern Illinois, Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M, AJ McCarron of Alabama and Jameis Winston of Florida State were all invited to the Heisman ceremony on Saturday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN). Auburn's Tre Mason and Boston College's Andre Williams are the running backs.
That's a pretty good list, but what we like better is the trivia.
Lynch, of course, used to play for Jerry Kill with NIU in the MAC. And it's been a while since the MAC had a Heisman finalist. How long?
The last two players from the MAC to be named a finalist for the Heisman were Marshall wide receiver Randy Moss in 1997 and Marshall quarterback Chad Pennington in 1999. Moss finished fourth behind Peyton Manning, Ryan Leaf and Charles Woodson while Pennington was fifth, placing behind Ron Dayne, Joe Hamilton, Drew Brees and Michael Vick
After the turn of the century, the MAC has placed several players in the top 10 of the voting, but none were invited to New York for the final ceremony.
Marshall's Byron Leftwich finished sixth in 2002 while Miami (Ohio) quarterback Ben Roethlisberger placed ninth in 2003. Ball State QB Nate Davis was eighth in 2008.
There's your MAC history lesson for the day, and a great reason to write a headline with Moss in it.
